NCAA asks for new proposal on $2,000 stipend

FILE - In this Oct. 24, 2011 file photo, NCAA President Mark Emmert speaks about policy changes being considered by the NCAA during the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics meeting in Washington. More than 180 schools want changes to the $2,000 stipend approved in October. More than 80 want something down to see changes with the four-year scholarships also approved in October. But Emmert isn't backing down. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)
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FILE - In this Oct. 24, 2011 file photo, NCAA President Mark Emmert speaks about policy changes being considered by the NCAA during the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics meeting in Washington. More than 180 schools want changes to the $2,000 stipend approved in October. More than 80 want something down to see changes with the four-year scholarships also approved in October. But Emmert isn't backing down. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)
/ AP

NCAA President Mark Emmert delivers his State of the Association speech during the NCAA's annual convention on Thursday, Jan. 12, 2012, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
/ AP

INDIANAPOLIS 
The NCAA Division I Board of Directors still believes scholarship limits should be expanded.

It just wants time to work out the details.

In a surprise move Saturday, the board delayed implementation of a $2,000 expense allowance, opting instead to ask the working group to make a modified proposal in April.

"What I heard was the board's resolve with the concept (of the miscellaneous expense allowance) and moving forward with it, but giving us a chance to work out concerns of the implementation," said Middle Tennessee State President Sidney McPhee, who chairs the subcommittee that made recommendations Saturday.

Essentially, the board heeded membership's advice to slow things down rather than continuing to charge full steam ahead.

Supporters insist that the 14-4 vote wasn't an outright rejection of the philosophy.

The complaints began pouring in almost as soon as conferences were given the option of providing an additional $2,000 toward the full cost of attendance, money that covers expenses beyond tuition, room and board, books and fees.

The rule was approved by the board in October. By late December, 160 schools had signed onto override legislation, enough opposition to force suspension of the rule and reconsideration Saturday.

Schools had three primary concerns: Title IX compliance, how the stipend would apply to sports that use partial scholarships and when the rule would go into effect. NCAA President Mark Emmert supported clarifying the language on Title IX and partial scholarships.

But less than 24 hours after athletic directors from Missouri and California argued publicly for a delay to avoid busting budgets, the board took their side instead of making the expected move and adopting the modified proposal.

"The point is to make sure we respond to the membership's concerns," Emmert said on the final day of the NCAA's annual convention. "We just want to make sure we get it right."

If a new proposal passes in April, it would go back to the membership for another 60-day comment period. Opponents would then have a second chance to force an override vote, possibly delaying the legislation even longer - certainly not the pace Emmert expected when he started pushing for swift changes in August.

The delay will cause at least one immediate discrepancy between college athletes.

Recruits who signed national letters-of-intent in November will be able to collect the money they were promised. Those who sign in February and April will not get that money, said David Berst, the NCAA's vice president for governance in Division I.

The board sent a clearer message on another hot-button issue, multi-year scholarships. Previously, scholarships were renewed on an annual basis. Under the current legislation, athletes would be able to keep the full value of their scholarship for the length of their eligibility and not have the scholarship taken away based solely on athletic performance.

Those decisions are being made conference-by-conference, too.

While 82 schools asked the board to reconsider the rule, it's unlikely to go away. The board voted unanimously to back the original proposal, sending the legislation to the full membership for an up-or-down online vote in February. It takes a five-eighths majority of 355 votes (221.9 votes) to reject it.